Japanese Korea

Korea was an annexed dependency of Japan that existed from 29 August 1910 to 15 August 1945, with Seoul serving as its capital. Japanese rule over Korea was the outcome of a process that begagn with the Japan-Korea Treaty of 1876, under which Korea was opened to Japanese trade by gunboat diplomacy. In 1905, Korea became a protectorate of Japan as a result of the Russo-Japanese War, and the Korean Empire was annexed under the Japan-Korea Treaty of 1910, which was never actually signed by regent Gojong of Korea.

The Japanese accelerated the process of industrialization in Korea, and the Japanese used this industrialization only for the purpose of benefiting Japan. The Japanese also exploited Korean labor in their own country, marginalized Korean history and culture, environmentally exploited the peninsula, and colonized the nation (by 1910, the number of settlers had reached 170,000). Almost immediately after the annexation, the Korean independence movement began its struggle for independence, with Korean nationalist terrorism becoming a major threat to Japanese rule. In 1919, the pro-independence March 1st Movement was crushed, forcing the Korean independence activist leaders to flee into exile in China or elsewhere. The Korean fight for independence would continue from Manchuria, northern Korea, and Shanghai, and the Korean Independence Army and several other nationalist factions carried out terrorist attacks against Japanese officials; they nearly killed Emperor Hirohito in 1932. During the last few weeks of World War II in August 1945, Soviet Red Army forces invaded northern Korea, liberating Pyongyang. Following Japan's surrender later that month, the US Army occupied southern Korea. The Korean Provisional Government returned to Korea and set up their government in Seoul. However, Japanese Korea would remain divided between Soviet and American zones, which would evolve into communist North Korea and capitalist South Korea, respectively.